Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Enjoy the Decline Redux

People will still vote for the people who put us here:

On Dec. 8, poll aggregator 338Canada.com showed the Conservatives at 43% and Liberals at 22%. That means almost one in four Canadians think voting for the Liberals under Justin Trudeau is worth it.

(Sidebar: that number is WAY too high.)

How is that possible?

Is it because they are turned off by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre? Fine. Understandable. Vote NDP. Vote Green or Bloc Quebecois.

It is popular in Canada to look down our noses at American politics and president-elect Donald Trump is one American so many people across the globe love to hate. But here in Canada, we hate Trudeau more.

A recent Spark Advocacy poll gauging Canadian feelings showed 33% approve of Trump, while only 31% approve of Trudeau. This from Canadians! ...

(Sidebar: again, way too high.)

Canadians can’t afford housing in large communities across the nation, grocery prices are exploding and have for a while now, our dollar is near 70¢ to the American dollar and yet, he is right. Nearly one in four do forgive him.

Do they all work for the federal government? You know, the government he expanded in personnel by 42% since 2015, while still managing to contract out work at a high clip? More people doing less work.

Does that impact inflation? Many would say it does but don’t ask him. He doesn’t think about it.

Foreign direct investment in Canada has cratered.

Trudeau’s government has made it harder to keep repeat offenders — using guns in the commission of their crimes — in jail without bail while his answer is to ban more guns in the hands of law-abiding people.

(Sidebar: see here.)

Law-abiding people would be more worried if they didn’t know that the result of the gun buy-back so far was $67 million spent and zero guns collected.

You can’t make this stuff up.

And the Ukrainians should not hold their breaths for incoming.

The Liberal record is one long list of outrageous misuse of money — think ArriveCAN app, scandals like WE and SNC-Lavalin, multiple ethics violations, Blackface and Mr. Dressup goes International, buying groceries by cancelling your Disney subscription, having the RCMP carry suitcases for illegals crossing the border, literally dumping refugees on the street in Toronto in the cold, telling veterans they were asking for too much, delayed COVID vaccines because of a secret deal with China and too much more to list here.


Anyone else would have had a revolution.

**

Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux told Bloomberg News last month he expects the Trudeau government has already blown past its own “fiscal anchor” of a $40-billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year; Freeland predicted that in her April budget.

Giroux predicted the deficit would be $46.8 billion.

A Bloomberg News survey of 15 economists from Canada’s six largest money leaders, released Monday, found 13 agreed with Giroux that the Trudeau government will not hit its deficit target.

**

A GST holiday will cost 80 percent more than claimed by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, the Budget Office said yesterday. Analysts said Freeland failed to account for mandatory compensation owed provinces that harmonized their own sales tax collections with the GST: “Would you agree with that number?”

 

(Sidebar: but don't criticise her!) 

**

Many groceries are already tax free but the federal government will exempt the goods and service tax (GST) — or harmonized sales tax in some provinces (HST) — on additional items starting Dec. 14.

The two-month tax holiday, proposed under Bill C-78, will also exempt taxes on restaurant meals, newspapers and books, children’s products, christmas trees and other holiday essentials until Feb. 15 of 2025. ...

“On the surface, the GST rebate may seem as a good-willed gesture on behalf of Ottawa,” Charlebois said. “But the temporary nature of the policy is likely going to negatively impact Canadians.”

The policy could spark additional inflationary pressures at a time when, as Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland says, “expenses are highest for many Canadians and their families — even with inflation back down to two per cent and interest rates being cut four times this year.”

Charlebois said that the tax break could cause a disruption in pricing strategies. This would encourage grocers to adjust prices to compensate for the two-month break, causing overall food prices to increase after the tax holiday ends.

“It’s like the tide: If some products become more expensive, everything else becomes more expensive,” Charlebois said. “So, the argument that only taxable products are going to be impacted is inherently flawed.”

Charlebois said that the “poisonous nature” of the tax break is that it is temporary.

“By the time we get to February, you’ll see many products being more expensive in the grocery store. And, once the tax actually comes back, it will be slapped on higher food prices.”

**

It's called selfishness:

The Assembly of First Nations says the ongoing postal strike is delaying supplies of medicine and other necessities to rural and remote communities.

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is calling on Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to reach a resolution to the strike, which is nearing four weeks.

Negotiations with a federal mediator were suspended nearly two weeks ago.

The union is seeking wage increases, a cost-of-living allowance and more job protections.


This union:

As Canada Post workers remain on the picket line, a key point of contention in their demands is their job’s growing physical and mental toll — and they say that’s exacerbated by climate change.

From delivering parcels through scorching heatwaves to battling blizzards, Canadian postal workers increasingly face extreme weather conditions that strain their bodies and minds.

“In recent years, climate change has shown a bit of a trend,” said Brahm Enslin, local president at CUPW Saskatoon Local 824.

 

Nor rain, nor sleet, nor snow.



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